


At the End of the Day

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Family, Future Fic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-15
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-08 22:16:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1958100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“And I plan to celebrate every little victory.  Isn’t that what parents do?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the End of the Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sort of sequel to You Make My Life Complete. I need more of this ship in canon and I know I'm not going to get it so I let them tell me their story.

“I want to put it in a frame.” Beth said as she rolled up the paper and carefully tucked it by the nightstand. “I have to cut it to about 16x20.”

“You don’t have to cut it.” Hotch said from the bathroom. “They’ll remove the access paper at the framing shop. They'd rather do that than have you be off by an inch or two.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because people who are anal about things know other people who are anal about things.” He stuck his head out of the door and smiled.

“You're a really funny guy, Hotchner.”

“I hear that…practically never.” He went back into the bathroom.

“Well I speak the truth.”

“Always my love.”

Beth smiled. She turned on the ceiling fan and went over and opened the window. It was a gorgeous rainy night in DC; she wanted the natural air to flow through the room. How she wasn’t just falling face first into bed she had no idea. It had been a long day, the end of what had been a long week. 

Liesel had been living with the Hotchner family for three weeks. The transition had been bumpy for all parties involved. Everyone did their best and things were settled almost back to normal. Liesel needed and wanted a lot of Beth’s attention. That made Jack slightly jealous. 

Hotch was having difficulty finding his niche as dad. The toddler was apprehensive around males; she didn’t give Hotch more than the time of day. She loosened up to Jack quicker as they played together, watched TV, and he read her books. Mom was getting the heftiest workout of them all. Beth’s exhaustion was starting to show. Hotch stepped up as much as he could but it wasn’t easy when Liesel didn’t respond to his attempts.

Since it rained all day, the couple took the kids to the Science Museum and then the Children’s National Library. Hotch helped Liesel pick out books she wanted to take home. Jack and Liesel made puppets. Beth was able to go outside for about 20 minutes, rained be damned, and get some alone time. 

Liesel didn’t cry and held Hotch’s hand. Both kids were excited when they went out for pizza and milkshakes afterward. They braved the light but steady rain for a walk along the National Mall. On the way home in the car Jack and Liesel both mangled the words to Simon and Garfunkel songs but they hummed and tried to sing along.

“You think we’re ready for dinner with Sam and Jessie tomorrow?” Hotch asked as he came out of the bathroom. He was wearing a pair of boxer briefs and carrying his tee shirt in his hand. It took a lot of hard work but he’d stopped hiding the scars. At least when he was alone with his wife. 

“I think that now is as good a time as any.” Beth threw back the blankets and climbed into bed. “One thing I know for sure is that Liesel likes to eat so that’s not going to be a problem. I'm sure she’ll be shy around Sam but maybe open right up to Jessie. And she’ll love Michael and Chase. The kids will have fun together.”

“She let me hold her hand today.”

“You didn’t see me holding back my tears?”

“Are you being serious?” Hotch looked at Beth after he put his shirt on. He was sitting down on his side of the bed.

“I'm being very serious.” She nodded. “I know the past three weeks haven’t been easy for you but you’ve been a trooper. You’ve been so good with her; so good with both kids. You never pushed and Liesel is responding to that behavior.”

“It’s not going to be a miracle. It’s going to be little things over time, what could be a lot of time.”

“And I plan to celebrate every little victory. Isn’t that what parents do?”

He nodded. It was exactly what parents did. Hotch wasn’t there for so many of the special moments with Jack. He missed his birth. He wasn’t there when he walked for the first time or said his first word. 

His mother taught him to ride a bike and to tie his shoes. Sometimes, when Hotch looked back he wondered just what he’d instilled in his little boy. And then it always came to him, _working the case_. There were times when he was sure if he taught Jack nothing else but working the case it was all that mattered. Working the case was why he was still alive today. 

Liesel was nearly four; many of her firsts had gone by as well. But there was still much for Hotch and Beth to be a part of. He was so excited today when she showed off the puppet she made. And he helped her choose _Clifford’s Big Day on the Farm_ along with _Horton Hears a Who_ and _Peter Pan_ to read this week. 

Liesel showed interest in playing with Jack’s old skates, which were too big for her. Hotch decided he would teach her to skate. If she let him. He wasn’t going to push but this was another chance. He had another chance to be the father to her that he couldn’t be to Jack at the same age. He had a chance to be the father to her that he was to Jack now.

“I guess I should be doing the same instead of talking about long roads.”

“I appreciate you keeping your feet on the ground.” Beth reached for his hand. “You're going to be with us at the pediatrician’s on Tuesday right?”

“I’ll be there. There’s a meeting at Quantico but I pushed it back to 1:30 with the promise that there would be pizza. Our appointment is at 10:30, right?”

“Yeah. I think this hearing test could be really important. Liesel might be struggling to speak and pronouncing words incorrectly because she can't hear them. When I call her from across the yard I get much less of a response than I do when I speak right in front of her. We’re going to have plenty of time to see the doctor and for you to get to the office. You won't miss your meeting.”

“Thanks for being a good sport.” Hotch leaned over and kissed her lips.

“I know you have to work.” Beth stroked his cheek. “You promised me thirty days and you’ve been here. Not just in the house but here with us. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to step away sometimes for FBI stuff. I'm OK with that.”

“You're very good to me.”

“It’s funny you should bring that up.” She put her arms around him. Hotch grinned as he crawled onto the bed. “I was just thinking about you being good to me.”

“Were you?”

“Mmm hmm.” 

“I want you to tell me all about it.” Hotch smiled. He gave her Eskimo kisses and Beth sighed.

“I should maybe check on the kids one more time.” Beth said. “I know I'm being overprotective…”

“You're being mom.”

“I really love being mom.” She practically melted when she said it. 

Beth had accomplished a lot of things in her life and she was so proud of them. But she’d always wanted a family. She wanted a husband, a couple of kids, and a nice house. She had those things now. It wasn’t a fairy tale, but real life had always been better anyway.

“I know. Go and check on the kids; I’ll be here when you get back.”

Smiling, Beth hopped up out of the bed. She looked at her smiling husband as she walked out of the room. She walked down the hall to Jack’s bedroom. He was sound asleep in his twin bed. The Avengers poster over his bed glowed in the light of the black and silver lava lamp. 

Jack had recently fallen for lava lamps. He didn’t want his room to be dark but felt he was getting too old for night lights or “baby” lamps. With the lava lamp he could deal with his fear of the dark and look cool while doing it. Beth gave him a kiss as she pulled the blankets up over him. Jack didn’t even stir, he was a heavy sleeper.

In Liesel’s room, Beth had to pull the covers back over her daughter. She could sleep like a wild child and often woke up with one limb off the bed and no blankets. As she pulled the Princess Bubblegum sheet and blanket back up, Liesel’s eyes opened.

“Shh, sweetie,” Beth whispered. “Go back to sleep. Close your eyes.”

She did and Beth gave a silent sigh of relief. She made sure Liesel was tucked in and put the puppet the toddler had been clutching all day long back into bed with her. Liesel wasn’t fond of the dark either so she had lamps on her nightstand and dresser. Penelope found lamps with revolving shades, which were covered in stars. 

So now constellations were all over the purple walls and ceiling. Unable to help herself, Beth stood in the doorway and watched the little girl sleep. She didn’t want to stay too long and wake her so she eventually made her way back down the hall to her bedroom. Now Hotch was in bed, his tee shirt was off again. Beth pushed the door up. They never closed it so the kids would always have access to them.

“You wanna guess what I'm wearing under these blankets?” he asked.

“Mmm, I'm gonna go with naked as a newborn for $400, Hotchner.”

“Are the kids asleep?”

“Yes.” Beth nodded.

“Are they _asleep_ asleep?”

“I could probably play a Keith Moon solo in Jack’s room and he’d sleep through it.”

“C'mere baby.” Hotch grinned.

Her tee shirt and shorts came off before Beth even got to the bed. Hopefully she wouldn’t come to regret that; there had been plenty of nights when Liesel didn’t sleep through the night. It was still early though and she usually stayed asleep for a couple more hours.

“Are the kids ‘have sex a little too loudly’ asleep?” Hotch wrapped his arms around her and began to kiss her neck.

“That might be pushing it.” She reached down to stroke him. “But I'm gonna take the victory that we’re even able to have sex at all.”

“So we should probably stop talking and get to it.”

“Conversation over, Agent Hotchner. But I want some romance.”

“Romance,” Hotch grinned, his dimples poking into his cheeks as he made his way under the covers. “Coming right up.”

***


End file.
